Minister Nguyen Van Hung chaired the conference (Photo: the VNAT)

Speaking at the conference, Minister Nguyen Van Hung emphasised that in the first six months of the year, besides basic advantages, Vietnam faced many difficulties and challenges; the industry's overcoming difficulties created a fresh picture for culture, sport and tourism industry.

At the conference, Director General of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) Nguyen Trung Khanh said that after two years of being almost completely freezen due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam's tourism has shown signs of prosperity since the Government allowed the reopening of tourism activities from March 15, 2022, and many international routes have been restored.

In the first six months of 2022, international visitors to Vietnam reached about 413,000. International visitors to Vietnam in May doubled compared to April; June increased four times compared to May. The majority of visitors from visa-exempt countries (the Reublic of Korea (RoK), UK, France, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia), visitors using e-visas (the US, Australia, India).

In order to realise the goal of welcoming five million international tourists by 2022 in the context of many difficulties and challenges, VNAT Director General Nguyen Trung Khanh said that it is necessary to exploit well the markets that have re-connected airlines such as the RoK, Japan, Western Europe, Australia, ASEAN; diverting to exploit new growth markets such as India, the US, and the Middle East.

VNAT will connect and coordinate with localities, businesses, airlines and the Tourism Development Support Fund to implement the "Live fully in Vietnam" programme.

Reported at the conference, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Nam Province Nguyen Thanh Hong said that Quang Nam has been selected as the host to organise the National Tourism Year in 2022. With the theme "Quang Nam – a green tourism destination", this year's event has conveyed the message of safe and friendly tourism, protecting the ecological environment, preserving and promoting cultural heritage values, prioritising the use of recycled products, and developing in a harmonious and sustainable manner with six themed groups including 64 activities in the whole year 2022. In six months, the whole province has welcomed 2.5 million visitors.

After listening to the comments and conclusions of the Conference, Minister Nguyen Van Hung affirmed that, in the first six months of the year, with the attention of the leaders of the Party, the State, the leaders of the localities, the whole industry has achieved successes, including important highlights.

Regarding the task of the last six months of the year, Minister Nguyen Van Hung asked the tourism industry to pay attention to the planning of destinations and tourist areas. According to the Minister, although tourism has boomed again, it is necessary to rely on the master plans to attract investment and create products.

The Minister also highly appreciated the bright spots in tourism of localities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Quang Ninh and Thanh Hoa, and said that in the coming time, the Ministry will accompany and provide support to get more safe destinations with new tourism products.